In this article Barry Mavin explains step by step how to setup a Linux HA (High Availability) cluster for the running of Recital applications on Redhat/Centos 5.3 although the general configuration should work for other linux versions with a few minor changes.
When you start the loadbalancer.org appliance you will see the following:
Default login:
Username: root
Password: loadbalancer
Access to webclient from an external client is:
http://192.168.1.129:9080
http://192.168.1.129:9443
You can access the web administrator using the IP and ports described onscreen.
For the sri lanka porject we are looking for performance and the network diagram indicates we are happy to have the cluster on the same subnet as the rest of the network.
Direct routing is the fasted performance possible, it has the advantage over NAT that the Loadbalancer does not become a bottleneck for incoming and outgoing packets. With DR the loadbalancer simply examines incoming packets and the servers to route the packets directly back to the requesting user.
The web interfaceis the only way to fully configure the loadbalancer vm. The console tool lbwizard will get it initiallised and any further configurations can then be done via the webinterface.
Using lbwizard for the Sri lanka configuration follow these steps.
On the first Loadbalancer:
//Start
Is this unit part for a HA Pair?
YES
Have you already setup the Slave?
NO
Is this a one-armed configuration?
YES
Enter the IP Address for the interface eth0?
Enter IP address you wish to be assigned to the SLAVE loadbalancer.
Enter the netmask for interface eth0?
Enter netmask for the subnet.
Enter the Floating IP adrress?
Enter the IP address that will be IP assosiacted the the HA-pair of loadbalancers.
//Finish
On the 2nd loadbalancer VM, run the lbwizard.
//Start
Is this unit part of an HA-Pair?
YES
Have you already set up the Slave?
YES
What is the slave units UP address?
Enter the IP which you entered when configuring the other loadbalancer VM.
Is this a one-armed configuration?
YES
Enter the IP Address for the interface eth0?
Enter the IP that will be assigned to the MASTER loadbalancer
Enter the netmask for interface eth0?
Enter the subnet netmask.
Enter the Floating IP address?
Enter the IP address that will be IP assosiacted the the HA-pair of loadbalancers.
Enter the address of the default gateway?
Enter the deafult gateway for the subnet.
Enter the IP of the nameserver?
Enter the dns server.
Enter the port for the first Virtual server?
Enter 22 for ssh
Enter the IP address of the first real server?
Enter the real IP of the first appserver
//Finish
Now this is complete we need to go to the web admin interface to configure the 2nd Real Server. As the lbwizard program will only allow you to configure 1 real server.
Now login to the web admin using the default password:
username: loadbalancer
password: loadbalancer
Note: Connect to the IP you have now set for your master loadbalancer
Goto the edit configuration tab
Now click add a real server:
Enter a label
IP address of the server plus the port of the service i.e. 192.168.1.125:22
Edit Configuration -> Virtual Servers
persistancte -> NO
Scheduler-> LC
LC - Least-Connection: assign more jobs to real servers with
fewer active jobs.
Service to check -> custom1
Check port -> 22
Forwarding Method -> DR
Feedback Method -> Agent
Arp Problem when using DR
Every real server must be configured to respond to the VIP address as well as the RIP
address.
You can use iptables (netfilter) on the real server to re-direct incoming packets destined for the virtual
server IP address.
This is a simple case of adding the following command to your start up script (rc.local):
//replace 10.0.0.21 with the Virtual Server IP
iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -p tcp -d 10.0.0.21 -j REDIRECT
chkconfig iptables on
After split brain has been detected, one node will always have the resource in a StandAlone connection state. The other might either also be in the StandAlone state (if both nodes detected the split brain simultaneously), or in WFConnection (if the peer tore down the connection before the other node had a chance to detect split brain).
At this point, unless you configured DRBD to automatically recover from split brain, you must manually intervene by selecting one node whose modifications will be discarded (this node is referred to as the split brain victim). This intervention is made with the following commands:
# drbdadm secondary resource
# drbdadm disconnect resource
# drbdadm -- --discard-my-data connect resource
On the other node (the split brain survivor), if its connection state is also StandAlone, you would enter:
# drbdadm connect resource
You may omit this step if the node is already in the WFConnection state; it will then reconnect automatically.
If all else fails and the machines are still in a split-brain condition then on the secondary (backup) machine issue:
drbdadm invalidate resource
# recital < mrprog.prgIndividual commands can be executed in shell scripts.
# recital < myprog.prg > myoutput.txt
# recital > myoutput.txt <<END
use customers
list structure
END
# echo "select * from sales!customers where overdue" | recital | wc -l
# recital -c "create database sales"Expressions can be evaluated and used in shell scripts.
# recital -c "create table sales!invoices (id int, name char(25), due date)"
# VER=`recital -e "version(1)"`You can view what command line options are available by typing:
# recital --help
In this article Barry Mavin, CEO and Chief Software Architect for Recital details how to Build C Extension Libraries to use with Recital.
Overview
It is possible to extend the functionaliy of Recital products using "Extension libraries" that can be written in C. These extension libraries, written using the Recital/SDK API, are dynamically loadable from all Recital 9 products. This includes:
- Recital
- Recital Server
- Recital Web
Building C Extension Libraries
You can create C wrappers for virtually any native operating system function and access these from the Recital 4GL. Unlike traditional APIs which only handle the development of C functions that are callable from the 4GL, the Recital/SDK allows you to build Classes that are accessible from all Recital products. e.g. You could create a GUI framework for Linux that handles VFP system classes!
To deploy your C Extension Libraries, copy them to the following location:
Windows:
\Program Files\Recital\extensions
Linux/Unix:
/opt/recital/extensions
Please see the Recital/SDK API Reference documentation for further details.
Sample code
Listed below is the complete example of a C Extension Library.:
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
#include "mirage_demo.h"
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Declare your functions and classes below as follows:
//
// Recital Function Name, C Function Name, Type (Function or Class)
//
#define MAX_ELEMENTS 7
static struct API_SHARED_FUNCTION_TABLE api_function_table[MAX_ELEMENTS] = {
{"schar", "fnSamplesCharacter", API_FUNCTION},
{"stype", "fnSamplesType", API_FUNCTION},
{"slog", "fnSamplesLogical", API_FUNCTION},
{"snum", "fnSamplesNumeric", API_FUNCTION},
{"sopen", "fnSamplesOpen", API_FUNCTION},
{"myclass", "clsMyClass", API_CLASS},
{NULL, NULL, -1}
};
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Recital API initialization. This should be in only ONE of your C files
// **IT SHOULD NEVER BE EDITED OR REMOVED**
INIT_API;
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// This is an example of passing a character parameter and returning one.
RECITAL_FUNCTION fnSamplesCharacter(void)
{
char *arg1;
if (!_parse_parameters(PCOUNT, "C", &arg1)) {
ERROR(-1, "Incorrect parameters");
}
_retc(arg1);
}
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// This is an example of passing a numeric parameter and returning one.
RECITAL_FUNCTION fnSamplesNumeric(void)
{
int arg1;
if (!_parse_parameters(PCOUNT, "N", &arg1)) {
ERROR(-1, "Incorrect parameters");
}
_retni(arg1);
}
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// This is an example returns the data type of the parameter passed.
RECITAL_FUNCTION fnSamplesType(void)
{
char result[10];
if (PCOUNT != 1) {
ERROR(-1, "Incorrect parameters");
}
switch (_parinfo(1)) {
case API_CTYPE:
strcpy(result, "Character");
break;
case API_NTYPE:
strcpy(result, "Numeric");
break;
case API_LTYPE:
strcpy(result, "Logical");
break;
case API_DTYPE:
strcpy(result, "Date");
break;
case API_TTYPE:
strcpy(result, "DateTime");
break;
case API_YTYPE:
strcpy(result, "Currency");
break;
case API_ATYPE:
strcpy(result, "Array");
break;
default:
strcpy(result, "Unkown");
break;
}
_retc(result);
}
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// This is an example returns "True" or False.
RECITAL_FUNCTION fnSamplesLogical(void)
{
char result[10];
int arg1;
if (!_parse_parameters(PCOUNT, "L", &arg1)) {
ERROR(-1, "Incorrect parameters");
}
if (arg1) strcpy(result, "True");
else strcpy(result, "False");
_retc(result);
}
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// This example opens a table.
RECITAL_FUNCTION fnSamplesOpen(void)
{
char *arg1;
if (!_parse_parameters(PCOUNT, "C", &arg1)) {
ERROR(-1, "Incorrect parameters");
}
if (_parinfo(1) == API_CTYPE) {
_retni(COMMAND(arg1));
} else {
_retni(-1);
}
}
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Define the MyClass CLASS using the API macros
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
RECITAL_EXPORT int DEFINE_CLASS(clsMyClass)
{
/*-------------------------------------*/
/* Dispatch factory methods and return */
/*-------------------------------------*/
DISPATCH_FACTORY();
/*---------------------------------*/
/* Dispatch constructor and return */
/*---------------------------------*/
DISPATCH_METHOD(clsMyClass, Constructor);
/*--------------------------------*/
/* Dispatch destructor and return */
/*--------------------------------*/
DISPATCH_METHOD(clsMyClass, Destructor);
/*-----------------------------------*/
/* Dispatch DEFINE method and return */
/*-----------------------------------*/
DISPATCH_METHOD(clsMyClass, Define);
/*------------------------------*/
/* Dispatch SET or GET PROPERTY */
/* method for property NumValue */
/* then return. */
/*------------------------------*/
DISPATCH_PROPSET(clsMyClass, NumValue);
DISPATCH_PROPGET(clsMyClass, NumValue);
/*------------------------------*/
/* Dispatch SET or GET PROPERTY */
/* method for property LogValue */
/* then return. */
/*------------------------------*/
DISPATCH_PROPSET(clsMyClass, LogValue);
DISPATCH_PROPGET(clsMyClass, LogValue);
/*-------------------------------*/
/* Dispatch SET or GET PROPERTY */
/* method for property DateValue */
/* then return. */
/*-------------------------------*/
DISPATCH_PROPSET(clsMyClass, DateValue);
DISPATCH_PROPGET(clsMyClass, DateValue);
/*-------------------------------*/
/* Dispatch SET or GET PROPERTY */
/* method for property TimeValue */
/* then return. */
/*-------------------------------*/
DISPATCH_PROPSET(clsMyClass, TimeValue);
DISPATCH_PROPGET(clsMyClass, TimeValue);
/*-------------------------------*/
/* Dispatch SET or GET PROPERTY */
/* method for property CurrValue */
/* then return. */
/*-------------------------------*/
DISPATCH_PROPSET(clsMyClass, CurrValue);
DISPATCH_PROPGET(clsMyClass, CurrValue);
/*-------------------------------*/
/* Dispatch SET or GET PROPERTY */
/* method for property CharValue */
/* then return. */
/*-------------------------------*/
DISPATCH_PROPSET(clsMyClass, CharValue);
DISPATCH_PROPGET(clsMyClass, CharValue);
/*------------------------------*/
/* Dispatch SET or GET PROPERTY */
/* method for property ObjValue */
/* then return. */
/*------------------------------*/
DISPATCH_PROPSET(clsMyClass, ObjValue);
DISPATCH_PROPGET(clsMyClass, ObjValue);
/*-----------------------------------*/
/* If message not found return error */
/*-----------------------------------*/
OBJECT_RETERROR("Unknown message type");
}
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Define METHOD handlers
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
DEFINE_METHOD(clsMyClass, Constructor)
{
struct example_data *objectDataArea;
/* Allocate memory for objects objectData area */
objectDataArea = (struct example_data *)
malloc(sizeof(struct example_data));
if (objectDataArea == NULL) return(-1);
/* Assign the default property values */
strcpy(objectDataArea->prop_charvalue, "Test API object");
objectDataArea->prop_numvalue = 15.2827;
objectDataArea->prop_logvalue = 'F';
strcpy(objectDataArea->prop_datevalue, DATE_DATE());
strcpy(objectDataArea->prop_timevalue, DATE_DATETIME());
strcpy(objectDataArea->prop_currvalue, "15.2827");
strcpy(objectDataArea->object_name, "APIobject");
objectDataArea->prop_objvalue
= OBJECT_NEW(objectDataArea->object_name, "exception", NULL);
/* Set the object objectData area */
OBJECT_SETDATA((char *)objectDataArea);
return(0);
}
DEFINE_METHOD(clsMyClass, Destructor)
{
struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
if (objectData != NULL) {
if (objectData->prop_objvalue != NULL)
OBJECT_DELETE(objectData->prop_objvalue);
free(objectData);
objectData = NULL;
}
return(0);
}
DEFINE_METHOD(clsMyClass, Define)
{
struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
struct API_EXPRESSION result;
char buffer[512];
int rc;
/* Check the object class */
OBJECT_GETPROPERTY(objectData->prop_objvalue, "class", buffer);
rc = OBJECT_GETARG(buffer, &result);
if (result.errno == 0 && result.type == 'C'
&& strcmp(result.character, "Exception") == 0) {
switch (OBJECT_GETARGC()) {
case 1:
rc = OBJECT_GETPARAMETER(1, &result);
if (result.errno == 0 && result.type == 'C') {
OBJECT_SETARG(buffer, &result);
rc = OBJECT_SETPROPERTY(objectData->prop_objvalue,
"message", buffer);
}
break;
case 2:
rc = OBJECT_GETPARAMETER(2, &result);
if (result.errno == 0 && result.type == 'N') {
OBJECT_SETARG(buffer, &result);
rc = OBJECT_SETPROPERTY(objectData->prop_objvalue,
"errorno", buffer);
}
}
}
result.type = 'L';
result.logical = (rc == 0 ? 'T' : 'F');
OBJECT_RETRESULT(&result);
}
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Define GET property handlers
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
DEFINE_PROPERTYGET(clsMyClass, NumValue)
{
struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
if (objectData == NULL) return(-1);
OBJECT_RETPROPERTY('N', objectData->prop_numvalue);
}
DEFINE_PROPERTYGET(clsMyClass, LogValue)
{
struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
if (objectData == NULL) return(-1);
OBJECT_RETPROPERTY('L', objectData->prop_logvalue);
}
DEFINE_PROPERTYGET(clsMyClass, DateValue)
{
struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
if (objectData == NULL) return(-1);
OBJECT_RETPROPERTY('D', objectData->prop_datevalue);
}
DEFINE_PROPERTYGET(clsMyClass, TimeValue)
{
struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
if (objectData == NULL) return(-1);
OBJECT_RETPROPERTY('T', objectData->prop_timevalue);
}
DEFINE_PROPERTYGET(clsMyClass, CurrValue)
{
struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
if (objectData == NULL) return(-1);
OBJECT_RETPROPERTY('Y', objectData->prop_currvalue);
}
DEFINE_PROPERTYGET(clsMyClass, CharValue)
{
struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
if (objectData == NULL) return(-1);
OBJECT_RETPROPERTY('C', objectData->prop_charvalue);
}
DEFINE_PROPERTYGET(clsMyClass, ObjValue)
{
struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
if (objectData == NULL) return(-1);
OBJECT_RETPROPERTY('O', objectData->prop_objvalue);
}
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Define SET property handlers
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
DEFINE_PROPERTYSET(clsMyClass, NumValue)
{
struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
struct API_EXPRESSION result;
int rc = OBJECT_ERROR;
OBJECT_GETVALUE(&result);
if (result.errno == 0 && result.type == 'N') {
objectData->prop_numvalue = result.number;
rc = OBJECT_SUCCESS;
}
return(rc);
}
DEFINE_PROPERTYSET(clsMyClass, LogValue)
{
struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
struct API_EXPRESSION result;
int rc = OBJECT_ERROR;
OBJECT_GETVALUE(&result);
if (result.errno == 0 && result.type == 'L') {
objectData->prop_logvalue = result.logical;
rc = OBJECT_SUCCESS;
}
return(rc);
}
DEFINE_PROPERTYSET(clsMyClass, DateValue)
{
struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
struct API_EXPRESSION result;
int rc = OBJECT_ERROR;
OBJECT_GETVALUE(&result);
if (result.errno == 0 && result.type == 'D') {
strcpy(objectData->prop_datevalue, DATE_DTOS(result.date));
rc = OBJECT_SUCCESS;
}
return(rc);
}
DEFINE_PROPERTYSET(clsMyClass, TimeValue)
{
struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
struct API_EXPRESSION result;
int rc = OBJECT_ERROR;
OBJECT_GETVALUE(&result);
if (result.errno == 0 && result.type == 'T') {
strcpy(objectData->prop_timevalue, DATE_TTOS(result.datetime));
rc = OBJECT_SUCCESS;
}
return(rc);
}
DEFINE_PROPERTYSET(clsMyClass, CurrValue)
{
struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
struct API_EXPRESSION result;
int rc = OBJECT_ERROR;
OBJECT_GETVALUE(&result);
if (result.errno == 0 && result.type == 'Y') {
strcpy(objectData->prop_currvalue, CURR_YTOS(result.currency));
rc = OBJECT_SUCCESS;
}
return(rc);
}
DEFINE_PROPERTYSET(clsMyClass, CharValue)
{
struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
struct API_EXPRESSION result;
int rc = OBJECT_ERROR;
OBJECT_GETVALUE(&result);
if (result.errno == 0 && result.type == 'C') {
strcpy(objectData->prop_currvalue, result.character);
rc = OBJECT_SUCCESS;
}
return(rc);
}
DEFINE_PROPERTYSET(clsMyClass, ObjValue)
{
struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
OBJECT objvalue;
int rc = OBJECT_ERROR;
if (OBJECT_GETTYPE() == 'O') {
objvalue = OBJECT_GETOBJECT();
objectData->prop_objvalue = OBJECT_ASSIGN(objvalue, objectData->object_name);
rc = OBJECT_SUCCESS;
}
return(rc);
} SET DATADIR TO [ <directory> ]This command is used to specify a directory where database tables, memos, indexes, and dictionary files are located. When a table is being opened this directory is searched first before the current directory and the file search path to locate the table and its associated files. This allows the database tables to be relocated to a different file system without the need to change an existing application.
Here is a simple shell script to copy your ssh authorization key to a remote machine so that you can run ssh and scp without having to repeatedly login.
#!/bin/sh
# save in file ssh_copykeyto.sh then chmod +x ssh_copykeyto.sh
KEY="$HOME/.ssh/id_rsa.pub"
if [ ! -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub ];then
echo "private key not found at $KEY"
echo "create it with "ssh-keygen -t rsa" before running this script
exit
fi
if [ -z $1 ];then
echo "Bad args: specify user@host as the first argument to this script"
exit
fi
echo "Copying ssh authorization key to $1... "
KEYCODE=`cat $KEY`
ssh -q $1 "mkdir ~/.ssh 2>/dev/null; chmod 700 ~/.ssh; echo "$KEYCODE" >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys; \ chmod 644 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys"
echo "done!"
Here's how to set up field validation for a field with a small static number of acceptable values.
Using the example.dbf table from the southwind sample database, validation can be added to the title field to ensure it matches one of a list values.
open database southwindThe inlist() function checks whether the specified expression exists in the comma-separated list which follows. An attempt to update title with a value not in the list will give an error: Validation on field 'TITLE' failed.
alter table example add constraint;
(title set check inlist(alltrim(title),"Miss","Mr","Mrs","Ms"))
If you have access to the Recital Workbench, you can use the modify structure worksurface to add and alter your dictionary entries, including a customized error message if required.

APPEND FROM <table-name>Before when appending into a shared Recital table each new row was locked along with the table header, then unlocked after it was inserted. This operation has now been enhanced to lock the table once, complete inserting all the rows from the table and then unlock the table. The performance of this operation has been increased by using this method. All the database and table constraints are still enforced.
The Openfiler NAS/SAN Appliance (NSA) is a Storage Management Operating System / NAS Appliance distribution. It is powered by the Linux 2.6 kernel and Open Source applications such as Apache, Samba, LVM2, ext3, Linux NFS and iSCSI Enterprise Target. Openfiler combines these ubiquitous technologies into a small, easy to manage solution fronted by a powerful web-based management interface. Openfiler allows you to build a Network Attached Storage (NAS) and/or Storage Area Network (SAN) appliance, using industry-standard hardware, in less than 10 minutes of installation time.
Building upon the popularity of server virtualization technologies such as VMware, Virtual Iron, and Xen, Openfiler can also be deployed as a virtual machine instance or on a bare metal machine.
This deployment flexibility of Openfiler ensures that storage administrators are able to make the best use of system performance and storage capacity resources when allocating and managing networked storage in a multi-platform environment.
Openfiler is ideally suited for use with High Availability Recital applications as it incorporates:
- Heartbeat cluster manager
- drbd disk replication
- CIFS
- NFS
- Software and hardware RAID
- FTP
- rsync
- HTTP/DAV
- iSCSI
- LVM2
- Multiple NIC bonding for High Availability
- Powerful web-based GUI